Dear Sir/Madam

I would like to know how many employees of the city council have
been absent from work due to either stress, anxiety, depression or
any combination of those ailments between 1st August 2004 and 31st
October 2008.

Please also confirm how many complaints of bullying have been made
by employees of the council against managers or colleagues during
the same period.

Please confirm how many employees have claimed constructive
dismissal within the same period for bullying/harassment.

Please confirm how many claims have been filed against the city
council at the Employment Tribunal within the same period for
bullying/harassment.

I would ask that you remember the statutory duty imposed upon
public authorities by virtue of Section 16 of the Freedom of
Information Act to provide advice and assistance to requesters. If
for any reason you are leaning toward rejecting any part of this
request or if you plan to argue that it is unmanageable or
unanswerable in any way then I would expect you to contact me
promptly to find ways to answer this request to our mutual
satisfaction.

Yours sincerely

Vicky Gray

I acknowledge receipt of your request.

Neil Bennett
Head of Information and Cultural Services

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Bennett

Thank you for your prompt response. I would also clarify when I
mentioned constructive dismissal, I was referring to the employee
directly, similar point about bullying and harassment complaints,
there is no Employment Tribunal claim called "bullying and
harassment". This will usually form part of a claim for unfair
dismissal or one (or more) of the various discrimination claim
and/or under the Protection from Harassment Act. Could you provide
the information on the aforementioned.

Could you provide the information in electronic format via this
website.

Thank you for your full co-operation

Yours Sincerely

Vicky Gray

show quoted sections

Dim ond y sawl y mae'r ddogfen hon wedi'i chyfeirio atynt ddylai ei darllen, a'i defnyddio ganddynt ar gyfer ei dibenion bwriadedig; ac ni ddylid fel arall ei hatgynhyrchu, copio, lledaenu, datgelu, addasu, dosbarthu, cyhoeddi na'i rhoi ar waith chwaith. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad, byddwch cystal a rhoi gwybod i ni ar unwaith trwy ffonio 01437 775882 a'i ddileu oddi ar eich cyfrifiadur ar unwaith. Ni ddylid rhoi'r cyfeiriad e-bost i unrhyw drydydd parti na'i ddefnyddio ar gyfer unrhyw ddiben arall chwaith.
Gwefan Cyngor Sir Penfro - http://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk
Mae'r llofnod hwn hefyd yn cadarnhau bod y neges e-bost hon wedi cael ei harchwilio am fodolaeth firysau cyfrifiadurol a chod maleisus.
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Dear Sir or Madam

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Pembrokeshire
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Bullying and Harassment'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/bu...

The response provided has no relation to the information I asked
for. I didn't ask if they had a system for recording statistical
information, I asked for the figures. They have not denied that any
complaints were made nor have they cited any exemptions against
disclosing the data. The fact that they do not have a system for
recording them is meaningless. They have a duty under FOI to
confirm or deny if the information is held, then to determine if it
is exempt from disclosure and if it is not, they must disclose it.

I would also point out the following if they claim it is too
expensive to search:

If the files are manual files held in what the Data Protection Act
refers to as a "Manual relevant structured filing system," one
would expect it would take at most a minute to extract a file from
a cabinet, open it, turn up the sickness tab and glance at the
sheet and scribble a note if the
file refers to stress/depression/ and put it back again. The
"relevant cost limit" from Section 12 is £450 or two and a half
days work.If you ran a query on a database, you could identify all
the relevant information I have requested and then look at these
files. So cost should not be an issue.

I pointed out to the council there is no constructive dismissal, I
was referring to the employee directly, similar point about
bullying and harassment complaints, there is no Employment Tribunal
claim called "bullying and harassment". This will usually form part
of a claim for unfair dismissal or one (or more) of the various
discrimination claim and/or under the Protection from Harassment
Act. The council answered this question referring to bullying which
would not provide the correct information.

On the basis of the foregoing, I would ask that a review be carried
out and that I be advised of the outcome of that review within the
timescales deemed appropriate in the Information Commissioner’s
recent guidance.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Vicky Gray

I acknowldge receipt of your request for a review of the handling of your
request - Bullying and Harassment. I will iniate the review process and
reply to you when the Panel has met.

Neil Bennett
Head of Information and Cultural Services

show quoted sections

Review .

show quoted sections

Dim ond y sawl y mae'r ddogfen hon wedi'i chyfeirio atynt ddylai ei
darllen, a'i defnyddio ganddynt ar gyfer ei dibenion bwriadedig; ac ni
ddylid fel arall ei hatgynhyrchu, copio, lledaenu, datgelu, addasu,
dosbarthu, cyhoeddi na'i rhoi ar waith chwaith. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn
yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad, byddwch cystal a rhoi gwybod i ni ar
unwaith trwy ffonio 01437 775882 a'i ddileu oddi ar eich cyfrifiadur ar
unwaith. Ni ddylid rhoi'r cyfeiriad e-bost i unrhyw drydydd parti na'i
ddefnyddio ar gyfer unrhyw ddiben arall chwaith.

Gwefan Cyngor Sir Penfro - http://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk

Mae'r llofnod hwn hefyd yn cadarnhau bod y neges e-bost hon wedi cael ei
harchwilio am fodolaeth firysau cyfrifiadurol a chod maleisus.

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Dear Mr Bennett

Thank you for providing a revised response, but could you explain
how you have arrived at the figure of 781 you have quoted if you
have not examined each file?

I would remind you that you have a legal duty to provide the
correct information.

Yours sincerely

Vicky Gray

show quoted sections

Dim ond y sawl y mae'r ddogfen hon wedi'i chyfeirio atynt ddylai ei darllen, a'i defnyddio ganddynt ar gyfer ei dibenion bwriadedig; ac ni ddylid fel arall ei hatgynhyrchu, copio, lledaenu, datgelu, addasu, dosbarthu, cyhoeddi na'i rhoi ar waith chwaith. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad, byddwch cystal a rhoi gwybod i ni ar unwaith trwy ffonio 01437 775882 a'i ddileu oddi ar eich cyfrifiadur ar unwaith. Ni ddylid rhoi'r cyfeiriad e-bost i unrhyw drydydd parti na'i ddefnyddio ar gyfer unrhyw ddiben arall chwaith.
Gwefan Cyngor Sir Penfro - http://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk
Mae'r llofnod hwn hefyd yn cadarnhau bod y neges e-bost hon wedi cael ei harchwilio am fodolaeth firysau cyfrifiadurol a chod maleisus.
***************************************************************************************************************

Dear Mr Bennett

Thank you for your explanation of how you have arrived at the
figures you initially claimed you could not provide.

I note your comments about the cost of complying taking over 100
hours or fourteen working days and whilst I am aware that the
draftsmen of the Freedom of Information Act had a brief from the
government to make it as difficult as possible for the public to
actually get information and as easy as possible for public
authorities to refuse it. The concept of a member of staff on a
salary in excess of £48000 per year combing through files (which is
what a £25 per hour salary equates to), when the task could be just
as easily done by a temp on the National Minimum Wage is a joke and
the stipulation in the fees regulations that this is a reasonable
determination of cost is ridiculous and nothing more in my view,
than a government sponsored legal device to enable authorities to
be as restrictive as possible.

Additionally, your comment about “creating a new document” is
equally farcical. The e-mail you have sent to supply the figures is
“creating a new document” and whilst the Information Commissioner
may choose to assist public authorities in being unhelpful by his
“advice”, the principles of Freedom of Information do not extend to
councils choosing to cover up the wholly unacceptable behaviour of
their employees who choose to bully others and make their lives a
misery whilst the senior executives in the authority bury their
heads in the sand and pretend it isn’t happening – most likely
because they are themselves bullies.

Clearly, there is little point in pursuing this matter with you as
you are now being needlessly intransigent with regard to your
ludicrous comment about “creating a new document” when every letter
or e-mail you send that is not an already existing document is a
“new document” under your definition. Presumably, you will not now
be responding to any requests where you cannot simply send the
original of an existing document (as even to photocopy one is
“creating a new document” if your words are taken literally.

Thank you for the information you have supplied. I will not waste
any more of my valuable time by complaining to the Information
Commissioner from whose office you have no doubt been advised how
best to refuse to comply.

Yours sincerely

Vicky Gray

Dear Sir or Madam

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of
Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Pembrokeshire
Council's handling of my FOI request 'Bullying and Harassment'.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is
available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/bu...

Yours sincerely

Vicky Gray

Dear Ms Gray

The authority has already conducted an independent review of your request
and the result of this review was sent to you on 26th January, a further
explanation was sent on 30th January.

Yours sincerely

Tim Buck

Performance & Freedom of Information Manager

show quoted sections

Dim ond y sawl y mae'r ddogfen hon wedi'i chyfeirio atynt ddylai ei
darllen, a'i defnyddio ganddynt ar gyfer ei dibenion bwriadedig; ac ni
ddylid fel arall ei hatgynhyrchu, copio, lledaenu, datgelu, addasu,
dosbarthu, cyhoeddi na'i rhoi ar waith chwaith. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn
yr e-bost hwn trwy gamgymeriad, byddwch cystal a rhoi gwybod i ni ar
unwaith trwy ffonio 01437 775882 a'i ddileu oddi ar eich cyfrifiadur ar
unwaith. Ni ddylid rhoi'r cyfeiriad e-bost i unrhyw drydydd parti na'i
ddefnyddio ar gyfer unrhyw ddiben arall chwaith.

Gwefan Cyngor Sir Penfro - http://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk

Mae'r llofnod hwn hefyd yn cadarnhau bod y neges e-bost hon wedi cael ei
harchwilio am fodolaeth firysau cyfrifiadurol a chod maleisus.

***************************************************************************************************************